Barry Keoghan says wild grave scene in ‘Saltburn’ was improvised
Barry Keoghan, the Irish acting icon most famed for his recent appearance in the bold and triumphant movie Saltburn, has revealed that one of the movie’s disturbing scenes wasn’t part of the intended script.
The new movie, directed by Emerald Fennell, is a black comedy unlike anything most viewers have experienced before. In the seemingly innocuous setting of an Oxfordshire estate, the tale unfolds a series of jaw-dropping revelations, often with a salacious flare.
Among the many scenes to have sparked social media infernos is the grave sex scene. Avoiding a spoiler, the scene depicts Keoghan’s character, Oliver Quick, lusting after a recently departed human being. While paying his respects privately, he kneels down, strips off and proceeds to mount the mound of recently replaced dirt.
In a recent interview with Variety, Keoghan discussed Saltburn’s daring qualities, revealing that part of his role was improvised. “On paper, he wasn’t written to do that,” Keoghan said, referring to the grave scene. “But I wanted to see what actually happened, where I would take it. I wanted to be confused and let my body lead the way. What am I doing? How can I get closer?”
Discussing the same scene, Fennell told Entertainment Weekly that the grave sex came as an afterthought. “I spoke to Barry in the morning,” she said. “And I just said, ‘I don’t know, Barry. I think that he would…unzip’ […] And Barry just said, ‘Yup.”
Keoghan continued: “She plants seeds, Emerald, you know what I mean? She knows that they’re going to grow, these seeds, especially when she plants them with me. But it is a testament to Emerald having that idea and me meeting it with. To be honest, no questions. I was totally on board for it.'”
Fennell added: “There’s no way it couldn’t be in the film. There’s no way I could see a performance of that dedication — an expression of grief and love as intense as that — and not show it.”
Watch the trailer for Saltburn below. The movie is now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
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